


Given (Gratitude)

by blindtaleteller



Series: Platovember Prompts 2020 [7]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Day 7, Emotional Baggage, Gen, Gift Giving, Irondad, Lokiverse - Freeform, Long-Distance Relationship, Mixology (Lokiverse), Platonic Relationships, Platovember 2020, Rejection, Unresolved Emotional Tension, gratitude
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-08
Updated: 2020-11-08
Packaged: 2021-03-08 23:54:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,752
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27445195
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blindtaleteller/pseuds/blindtaleteller
Summary: One of the greater Sorcerers and most connected to the Coven as a result; Loge is still a Runner, and often unable to participate in the Coven as much as he used to.After risking way too much to help out Door Fifteen after a horrible explosion that killed more than half of Fifteen's off world team during the initial fight with Thanos and irreversibly changed those few survivors left; Loge and Grey's Tony Stark, Leadsprite: are faced with the consequences. And the reality of what dangers their universes pose to each other in their current state, just as a start. The question remains whether they settle for what they have, or take after Gin and Wolfkin to risk it all and try for more..
Relationships: irondad - Relationship, platonic - Relationship
Series: Platovember Prompts 2020 [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1999015
Kudos: 2
Collections: Loki, Platonic Relationships, Prompted Writing





	Given (Gratitude)

**Author's Note:**

> Ugh these guys hurt to write sometimes.  
> No apologies though! I still enjoyed writing it out ... even if Loge and LS in particular absolutely destroy me.

  * IDENTIFY LOCATION: LOGE - INTER-DIMENSIONAL IDENTIFICATION CONFIRMED : HVRA0616-9H-02
  * \---INTER-UNIVERSAL DOORWAY ENTRY POINT H2 : OBSERVATIONAL STATUS - TVA INTERFERENCE: _!THREAT LEVEL TWO_ _DETECTED  
_
  * \----THE REACHES : UNKNOWN VARIANT : MARE SEPARATION INITIATED
  * **\--=!!!WARNING!!! RUNNER PROTOCOLS IN PLACE :** **EXTREME I.U.T. VISITATION CAUTIONS ADVISED** : THE BIBLIOTHECA
  * \------KNOWN DOMESTIC TIME VARIANCE : TERRAN VARIANT INITIALIZED : 9:56 AM US EST



##  -=GIVEN=-

" I'm still new to this myself. " the recording went on to his left continued. Barnes, though not his Barnes sounding a little exasperated. " Even saying that though, I wish I could give you more advice than that man. We owe you and Lau way too much for the help. Don't think I need to say it but; Loke sends his best. Gin too -- _hey._ Mentioning you doesn't mean you _have_ to get right up in there you know. "

Bucky was shaking his head at the back of Gin's and mocking a bite or three behind his ear while Gin cut in. " Yes it _does,_ and he knows it. I _also_ send you a reminder-- " tugged Loge's sharp blue eyes back to the holo that Gin's twinned if slightly younger face had nearly taken up in place of his cross-universal consort. The usual stabbing tones, the _usual_ frigid glare; and he knew: the usual concern and _extreme care_ for Loge himself and the rest of their mirrors Gin always had in mind regardless. Loge knew him well. Younger than most of the rest of their odd five-some, he was still closest in personality to Loge himself. Though he doubted the others knew or would believe that unless it bit them in the face.

Which, Gin was not above doing as proven in the past: but that was neither here nor there. " -- _not,_ to get in over your head before you are ready. Between Hunter and Brightspark _alone,_ you've enough troublesome and _volatile company_ in your _own_ universe: whether you can afford to separate from them _or not._ Adding Leadsprite and his explosive issues may aggravate them, and not just the ruling Triad: and I remind you, prove more than troublesome for Fifteen as well. More so for you though, if Hunter is allowed to catch up to you with the extra stops, or somehow picks up on your frequency. "

" _Sorry, Loge.._ " came in again as the other Loki's face dipped back out of view from in front of Wolfkin's almost as quickly as it had popped in; the elder Bucky giving him a brief view of his younger self where he had apparently been sitting right next to him as he adjusted the feed's view. " ..you know how he is. If I don't leave that in, he'll probably get me for it later. " had Loge snorting from the haze of locations and distance and speed and paper and half a hundred other things he was also paying attention to while the embedded stone was at it's most active, a sound Wolfkin's younger self seemed in tune with as well on the recording.

" Anyway, I'll _try_ to stop by their door, check on them in the between but.. _well;_ I don't have to tell you their time variance has been _pretty far off_ since their Quill went _boom_ and took half the area with him along with their Thanos. I can try talking to Penman, about it. He's _still_ the most sympathetic, as usual. But, I'm _pretty sure_ he's still pissed enough about the fight in particular and in a bad enough way that the time out order might still be in effect _even_ from _his_ end. Even if only for a little while. You know how nice he is, though. He'll be the first to fold. Even if he is mad. "

" ..well he's _not_ the _only one_ there. " grumbled loudly from off screen, and Loki understood Gin's anger over that particular incident. "Don't start _...please?_ I don't wanna have this fight again, Gin. Pietro wasn't even supposed to _be_ there. Never mind escalating the situation as he did. And _we_ really, shouldn't be giving opinions opposed: considering where I'm _literally_ sitting _right now?_ " Gin had nearly lost his son as a result. Even if Wolfkin was right and their relationship was living proof; things had still gotten far out of hand. And the situation was different enough; Loge didn't think it applied.Gin apparently agreed. But then Gin knew a great deal more of the details, too. Wolfkin had said it: he was still new to all of this, even if he was a fast learner.

" I don't wanna end this one on a sour note either, huh. " to his off-holo lover, and Bucky was right back to looking at him, recorded even as he was. " You need anything, anything at all: you knock on our doors, man. You know the Kings got your back. I don't even _have_ to ask to know that. And.. if I think or come up with or across anything that might help you out? I'll send as soon as I can, _okay?_ Keep out of Hunter's sights in the meantime; and ...try not to piss Brightspark off _too_ much? "

Shutting it off Loki nearly jumped out of his skin with the sudden " **Wow!** " that followed from behind his other shoulder; " He's _really_ getting used to all the names and stuff a lot faster than I did. You think he'll be a regular plains-walker? " actually breaking his concentration and having him gripping the table so fast he sent something skittering across it almost to the floor almost before Peter was done with the sentence and his eyes had refocused. Thankfully, Peter's quick reflexes had the bottle suspended and only swinging a little by his webbing as Loki's forehead came down to the scrawled out spell work he had picking apart and re-working between concentrated redirection of the massive mess he'd been directing through the Reaches. " Uhm _...sorry,_ Sir? "

" How many times, have I _told_ you -- "

" I _know you said_ to knock when I'm coming into your study -- "

" --to _knock_ and make sure I know you're present before you just, _appear_ at my elbows like that! "

"--but Doc took the doors off their hinges _again,_ and I didn't think knocking on anything that was already, ah... _glowing;_ was a good idea. " which reminded Loki to look around, on his way to looking back at the double doors that usually shut off his top floor study from the Bibliotheca. And all right. His magic was pretty much running through every knock-worthy surface in the room. And the doors were, in fact; not only off their hinges: but after a little mental tap into the space stone and squint to look at dimensional variances: Stephen had actually removed the next thirty sets in dimensional line. It took him a slight extra push to find out where in space-time he had put or folded them away; and ignored the downward hum and flicker of lights and shift of engines that had Parker nervously rolling his eyes around the varied light sources not of Loki's immediate making before grabbing onto the back of Loki's seat to keep his balance as the room shifted and folded to a larger size and back again like the opening and closing of a fan.

The doors retrieved and in place, like they'd never been gone in the first place; "...I dunno if I'll ever get used to the way you do that like most folks breathe. Folding matter in real-time totally should not be a normal thing; like ever. Never mind that effortless looking. " as Peter slowly reeled in the bottle he'd caught and handed it to Loge over his shoulder, using the natural raised blue lines of his paigemarks like a guide.

" Sorry, _again._ More bad news from the Coven? " had Loki sighing as he took and set the bottle down back in place at the head of his ... well it really was just a very big desk at this point, rather than a table, wasn't it. " It's fine. " which it wasn't, but Parker's end of things always was at least: and so long as telling him as much kept him from worrying more than he already did, then that was enough reason for the white lie. He was getting the impression that keen mind of his was picking up otherwise in pieces the same. Looking over though?

It was plain his attention span had only improved by a small margin. He was literally poking at one of the spacial containers Loki was currently keeping one of the few samples of excess energy from Leadsprite's calamity. " .....Mm. I assume you came down here to lose a finger, with you poking it at that particular point of interest. " had Parker snapping back his hand like the odd, turning ball of purple flame might eat it. Which it might very well, _if_ it hadn't been contained. There was still far too much they were learning about Celestial concurrent energy, especially where boundaries and it's odd hungry nature were concerned to say otherwise.

" _No_ sir..! " Got the kid sideways hug with his good right that, calmed Peter's quick rise in nerves at the suggestion; before he pulled it back again and realized he could feel the third stone in their possession being activated. "..are we actually on mark? " had Parker shrugging. " The others homeward bound know how to locate us if not; and we're close enough though either way. Mister Quill sent me down to tell you we were closing in on our scheduled stop. " had Loki half closing his eyes to shift his view deeper past physical sight again; into the Fae and outward to get a bearing. He was used to hearing the immediate shifting groan and creak of the whole of the Bibliotheca and merged Fae making way for his will to peek out into the vast near starless black of space outside. But apparently Peter still was _not,_ even almost two years later.

Even back in and sinking a little deeper into the haze; he could feel the shift of Peter's weight on the floor, disconnected but still as though he were standing on an extension of Loki's skin rather than inside the portion of the Mare he and Quill had personally went about the trouble of merging permanently with the Fae. He could feel her more than see her, and as usual the battle cruiser portion of the strangely mashed together construction still fought him a little. Then again, the ship was never meant for him, or anyone else currently on board. Never mind having a gigantic library merged and blended into it's already very enchanted decks right through the middle like a great, tiered tower sprouting out the back of a mechanical if also _very_ magically inclined cosmic whale. Even if, on top of all that; it did seem to like Stephen more than Loki wanted it to, for some stupid reason. Terrible price to pay, not being able to shove Strange out an airlock sometimes; but Parker made up for it, as did Stark since he'd caught up with them at the edge of the Milky Way.

The Fae was taking to the both of them very quickly. Which brought on a thought that made it out of his mouth unintentionally, but was left as was anyway for the fact he trusted and adored Parker in particular, and knew he wouldn't repeat it. " ...one of these days, I may actually be able to space the haughty bastard. "

" ...you don't really mean that Lo." reminded him that Parker was still mostly clueless to quite a few things having missed more than half the trip arriving with Tony; and was also poking at another container. Which, looking to him through the blue haze of numbers and spacial variants and dimensional corners as Peter continued; he admitted was probably right on the first half at least. " We do need him. " wasn't though, and he said as much with a sigh. " We need, the stone around his neck. Not the man himself. I can do as much. And Lila is catching up nicely. "

Which of course got him the same argument if from another mouth. Which he did appreciate the reminder for, even if it was out of Tony's apprentice and adopted and not Stark himself. " She's not ready though. And you need sleep sometimes, too. Nobody else wants t-- _can,_ handle the stone like you; right now. Mister Quill can't handle two at a time like Penman yet either, and you know it. " And yes, there was that part that Peter had cut off as well. Most were exactly what Tony would not have corrected, there: too _'chicken'_ to attempt the amount of direct contact with the Space Stone required to keep them moving through the Reaches between Galaxies as fast as they were moving without Jump Gates.

His own knowledge of Yggdrasil's natural doorways in particular and the spaces between her branches was key too, but he wasn't about to share that bit with anyone. Not even Parker, as much as he did love the boy. Stephen did not need that information as added leverage. That he'd told Leadsprite, was dangerous enough; and he was universes away, literally. " True. And if her agitation with her father persists, we may have to worry more about keeping her here. "

" She'll get it eventually sir. Lila's really, _really_ smart. " was Peter's crush talking, and he knew it. Which was probably why when Loki gave him a dry, direct look and raised brow on his way to standing; he had the good sense to blush and look away. Loki didn't blame him for it any way. They were about the same age. Lila was pretty. And there weren't a lot of other human-compatible options that were anywhere near Parker's level in residence. Even if the patriarchal side of her blood very much was still living up to his nickname among even the Coven who had never met him as more than a brief _'oh shit'_ moment breaching the Vestibule a year ago.

Loki ended up snatching his holo-display with his bad hand and rubbing Peter's still blushing head with the other. " Oh stop it already. You know I approve. Even if her father _is currently_ trying to kill most of us. "

" On _that_ note, uh.. " was never a good sentence coming from anyone else as Peter followed him back towards the double doors to his portion of the library. " ..we've been _talking,_ while you were Hazed; and we think if we can get to the Soul stone first: we might have a way of cancelling out Mind's affects on Hunter and the others, sir. "

" I am not inclined towards digging that rock out of it's current resting place without very good reasons. " because no, and that had to be shut down as an idea immediately. He knew all too well what that entailed, and he wasn't doing it.

" Sir, I _know_ you're worried about whatever fail safes you mentioned and don't feel like sharing but -- " was cut with an immediate raise of his voice and dead stop whipping in front of Peter to make sure he had his eyes and attention when he said it. " _**No!** Buts._ Unless we see him moving for it; the Soul Stone stays where it is. "

" Sir.. _really;_ I know you _mean well._ I know that better than _anybody!_ But we _can't just leave these things_ laying around. And look what he's done with the Mind Stone already. We've got three.. he's got two. We need to cut him off. " had Loki taking deep, exasperated breaths in an attempt to cleanse his mind. " No.. _buts._ The cost of that _particular_ fail safe, is too high for us to be able to afford. For too many reasons, the worst of which _no,_ is _not_ something I will discuss with anyone unless it comes to the _need._ " had Peter's head back in a likewise groan of exasperation that he knew wasn't going to change his mind. Loki rubbed his face randomly very much like he would the top of his head if that had been pointed at the ceiling instead, in part to get him to stop. And laugh.

Which he did, if briefly before giving Loki a tight hug around the middle and grumbling against his shoulder. " _...sorry._ I know you know best. " and attempt at wiggling him back and forth, though that never worked out for him even at Peter's strength. " I'm just ..frustrated, and just wanna go home; and get Lila's dad, and everybody else out of the brainwashing. "

" We'll get there. " got Loki a lopsided smile as Peter stepped away, or started to on a nod. " _Oh!_ " and he was right back in, looking behind him and then further down the hall again; offering up a pair of drives that pulled Loki's brows up high as Peter's voice dipped low. " The other reasons why Quill sent me. One's from Loke and Wolfkin but.. " the little breath in made Loge's pause, and more so with the smile that was trying not to overflow too much. " _The other one?_ We double checked it's variant signature before Doc could come in and cut the download short. "

And please, let it be what he'd been waiting for; he thought: just a half a second before Peter confirmed it at a much quieter decibel. " _It's from Fifteen. Make sure you hide it real well if you keep it._ "

Both were in private, deep-in separate pocket dimensions as fast as Loki could snatch them out of Peter's hands. " Thank you, Peter. "

" Uncle Lo? " was called after him as he was turning towards his door, brows raised and the rest of him anxious to get in and watch the second, rarer recording first. " ....don't sleep with the rock in your arm, tonight? " made him push up a smile at the reminder. If only Peter knew. " I won't. Thank you. " was an outright lie, if again given for their peace of mind. He couldn't afford otherwise, any more. Any more than he could afford to explain why it was necessary; and drag that growing rift between himself and Strange further out into the open for what it really was. Peter was gone, and he was on his way to a shower first with the intent of calming his nerves just as a start, and cleaning out the cobwebs concentrating even at a low level on his very physical connection with the infinity stone fused and woven low into the bone in his wrist often left behind.

First and foremost Loki needed to get the shake out of his excitement. Come at playing the message from Leadsprite with more clarity, because he didn't want to miss a single detail, not knowing how often he'd be able to play it if more than once at all: but he knew he'd want to. Loge needed badly to see how he was, even past any front he might try putting up on the holo. And that meant being one hundred percent while watching it, rather than the fifty to thirty he'd been able to give Wolfkin's last message while driving this huge fortress boat on his own through the Reaches. Ten minutes? Maybe fifteen. He didn't want to waste the water between Galaxies either. Their next pickup on frozen materials wasn't for another two stops.

~--+--~

" But _yeah,_ we're .. all right. " came with the kinds of smile lines around Tony's brown eyes that said that was about all he could push without making him worry; watching his face from that still damp and down position; his chin leaned in behind his forearms with the bad hand half limp as usual and resting on the out. " We're _definitely_ still alive! Really and I swear.. " with the _'if you can believe that'_ laugh as Nebula pulled her husband, Loki's own mirror out of the room behind Stark on the holo: and Sprite took up the usual position to match his own, adjusting the camera again to get a better view of him and less the room at large. he could see the fuzzy outlines of the reflection of the lake in the distant background, which told him they had gotten home all right too, even if he hadn't said it. " The guys here still don't know what to make of our _story,_ of course. I mean.. hopping pretty much _out of existence_ as far as they were concerned and then, _coming back to..._ " a small pause looking back, seeing his Parker was still there and then looking back to the camera, a brief raise of his dark, expressive brows.

" _Well,_ coming back to hunting what little was left after the attack on Wakanda's borders out of the jungle about two months later, _did_ spook them a bit. More so maybe, with _how_ we were going about it but; I think they've _mostly_ settled down? " was quickly followed up with a roll of Tony's eyes that showed a brief catlike lavender mirror to his corneas that he knew hadn't been there before the accident, and still worried Loki; while his image nudged his stubbly chin over his arms to stare into the camera. A habit in body language neither of them had broken over their correspondence for a few quiet reasons.

" I mean, not _completely;_ of course. _You know._ You're working on it too over there. " a breath in, audible and visible in his shoulders. He was purposely trying to get Peter out of the room by talking about things he knew he was uncomfortable with. He knew why. " Thanks for that, _again:_ by the way. I know you guys are still catching a lot of flak from the Big Three, for helping us out. We wouldn'ta survived this stupid bullshit at all _to_ thank you, _never mind_ gotten home. I heard, from Wolf; you been getting a little from Gin too. _Don't you listen to him, **huh?**_ For me? " made him smile, had Loki shaking his head like he could see him. " I mean, I doubt you would bail on us at this stage, but I _think_ I'd go nuts if I didn't have someone else who was there and isn't inconsistently latched into my emotive and cognitive state to talk to. "

Tony seemed to realize he'd caught the chord when his Parker shifted forward towards leaning over his knees. His Peter looked like he was still fighting off the tail end of the infection, from what Loki could tell: the occasional turn of his head towards the door showing his scarring hadn't been entirely drawn of the black-violet veins yet, and his eyes were even more reflective than Leadsprite's when they flicked towards the floor. Loki went for his tea at the same time Tony went for his coffee; and oh he missed real caffeine when he saw the steam. " Had a couple more really _weird_ experiences since we landed. " But he didn't realize taking a sip would be a mistake until Tony continued after he'd swallowed himself with the frank and too easily spat out words " Like, _apparently;_ even on the _other side of the compound_ in the middle of the night? Second hand wood when the married couple are going at it is, _maybe;_ a regular thing. " and made him spit the whole mouthful of jasmine halfway across his room on a bark of a laugh when it registered what exactly he was talking about.

Looking up wide eyed coughing for breath and disbelieving, he saw the mortified look on Peter's face that only intensified when Tony went on to say with absolutely no hesitation, remorse or shame " Which is weird enough, _until;_ you get down to the kitchen after a _completely useless_ cold shower and catch the teenager behind me rummaging around in the freezer for ice: 'cause he's awkwardly tenting _the same situation_ below the belt line as a result of the _marital interactions_ going down in the training suite and he had the same idea to try and get rid of it after the rub out _didn't_ work: and they're _still at it_ a half a block away. " Peter was almost purple in the face in embarrassment and out of his chair, _real_ fast. Loki was trying not to completely lose it at the recording in the meantime, and Tony?Even Leadsprite was at the stage he was folding his lips in every few words an fighting a smile of his own when he tacked on. " Nothing weirder than sharing _a whole tray of ice_ for your _crotch_ with a sixteen year old at three in the morning, lemme tell _you_ what. "

Yes, Loge failed miserably at not losing it when Leadsprite's Peter half spat back at him " ..for! You _don't_ have to tell him about _that_ sir! _Geez.._ just ...just **_ask!_** " before he heard the door shut over the holo, wiping the wet from his face as Tony's smile cracked wide and he ended up tipping his brows in even closer to the camera to say " Incidentally and in my defense, _I did_ before I started; and they all gave me the squinty eyes: so _too bad._ Imma give you a few seconds more to stop laughing at the fact that _actually did happen_ babe. God _knows_ I needed it the night of. " Tony looked too pleased with himself as he settled back a little again and ran his fingers through his hair a few times, shaking his head with another glance back at the door.

" This whole unintentional sharing thing _is_ driving me a little crazy sometimes still though? I mean.. _obviously_ we've got a better handle on it than day four; but it's _still_ sloppy as all hell. Guess that's what we get taking the risk of sticking our DNA in a blender with a race hardly anybody knows _anything_ about to survive though, huh? " pulled Loki down a little from the high-spirited laugh he'd been sporting. " **Not!** " came with finger briefly poking at the camera. " Not that I'd _trade it out._ Even with Pepper gone. _Especially_ not the experience of meeting you and the guys. Even Gin.. the _hypocritical **asshole.**_ " The breath out, the way it drew back in, and the quick glance up from the desktop between them told Loge he had succeeded at pulling himself down a little with the reminder too. " ..I can't bitch _too much_ though can I; when it's _his_ cross-universal boyfriend sneaking us our correspondence back and forth after the blackout order. "

Another brush back and forth of those fingers through Tony's hair, and the smile was more fragile, and the " I miss you. " hit him like a hammer to his chest. " I look at them, _every day;_ and I think.. _man._ I _really_ **_wish,_** I was born in a _whole_ other universe; you _know?_ " and the scratch at his brow, the way he leaned his chin in behind his arms again for a few moments before that brief, pained laugh broke out. " But that wouldn't exactly _work,_ would it? Then, I'd _be him_ with his background and _not_ me with _mine_ .. and what...? _He'd_ be me, and.. _man._ " the inevitable short whistle, the mock explosion blown out with the expression of his hands from the top of his head followed by a sigh and smaller smile again as Leadsprite's face resettled over his arms, smile lopsided and wishful all at once. " This whole; _living in different realities_ is some _complicated_ shit; _isn't it?_ Still .. wouldn't trade meeting you guys for _the whole_ of ours. Ah.. _universe,_ I mean. "

He was avoiding it. All the way to the end, Loki could tell. There was a minute and a half, maybe more left to the recording; and after twenty seconds of silence and those brown eyes just looking at the camera searching for it; Loki was thinking maybe there wasn't going to be an answer. He'd thought, he was ready to hear it, before he pulled his mouth from behind his arms again. Until he saw how hard he had been pressing his lips together to keep the frown from his face. And heard the breath in shaking. " I get it. _I do._ Why you don't wanna start, Lo. " cut a lot deeper than he thought it would.

" **Both** our situations are fucked up. I _dunno,_ day to day; if me or the kid are gonna pull through this last bit with Penman alive _or not,_ not _really._ And you've got _Bright_ and fucking _Huntsman, **and**_ Thanos on your ass _still;_ two chasing you across the fucking cosmos and the other one... " biting his lip, eating the words even Loki didn't like to pull out from behind his teeth. " ..if he _fucks with you_ on that level _again;_ you better tell Wolfkin like you promised me, _huh?_ I ... am okay with stopping where we're at and just staying friends or allies or _whatever;_ just. You _don't **ever;**_ let him hurt, or cage you like that _ever again,_ you _hear_ me? Especially not for us. Don't make _me,_ live with _that_ idea, in my head. _**That,** I **can't** do._ "

" _..aish._ " wasn't all he could think as the anger had filtered back into Leadsprite's tone towards the end, but something had to come out. " Also. _I gotta say;_ I'll set it down like you ask. But I'm _not_ kicking this feeling to curb. I can't do that and, you know why. Maybe we _can't_ manage it now? Maybe, you're right it's not good for either of us to.. _you know._ Get _involved,_ otherwise. And maybe you're right, and I'm wrong; and it's just some kind of stupid nurse patient latch on after all the shit we went through and all that time we spent together. Maybe it's _just_ me being grateful on a _life and death_ and really clingy, _needy level_ after you literally pulled my ass out of the cosmic fire in particular, I dunno for sure; much as I _wanna_ say otherwise **_....but!_** "

Sitting up Tony adjusted the camera again, and made him smile as he recollected his pride right alongside his posture. " If taking the blackout time as a little space to think and figure it out, is really what you think you need to be sure; I can _do_ that. And, I _will_ do that. Cause, if nothing else.. _I don't wanna lose_ the best friend I've got left. That one person I'm most grateful for in more than _one_ universe _...apparently._ Nothing's worth losing you to me. Even if it hurts, it's worth it if even at a distance I can still talk to you. Just because I gotta stomp on the gas as usual and push the envelope. I can be an asshole, but I'm not _that much_ of an asshole. And I'm not _ever_ gonna be that ungrateful or disrespectful of your wishes. I can deal until we figure this out. "

The beeps from one side had them both breathing in; Tony looking at the source of the red flash past the camera before he was looking back into it. " That's my thirty second warning. "

And he knew it, was already tucking his chin behind his arms again; watching: listening intently. " You know the drill. " because he did. The drives could only hold so much after encryption. " Answer soon? I wanna know how your trip across the Reaches is going. " and reaching to the camera he added for the little laugh he got " And whether my double got all those flavored condoms out of the RCEA filters after the last video. "

The wink out, and he was staring with that half smile behind his arms at the tilted shadows left behind and the few words left in the air asking him if he wanted to replay the message again. Loki was really, really tempted to for a few seconds.But, once was enough, and the fact Stephen hadn't even knocked yet to check on him now that they were settling into stealth and defense mode for his sleep cycle was pretty promising in the direction that he would be trying soon. If he was going to avoid that, he needed to actually sleep. And make sure the drive was tucked well away from the one Wolfkin had sent him. He'd watch that in the morning, if he could.

As it was; the answer had the same affect on him as he knew it did for Leadsprite. Heavier for it yes; but a good few tons lighter too. They both knew the others' situation, very well. Tony couldn't afford the kind of emotional roller coaster a deeper relationship across universes and especially with Loge could set off again, and aggravate his condition, just as a start.

_It could **kill** him._ And then where would they be?

And Loge? Things were stressed. Beyond stressed, since he had jumped right into helping Leadsprite and the other 'Ego-centrics' as long and as often as he had. Strange was in a near constant angry mode with him since. Maybe more so for the fact that he had made Brightspark bow his head and beg forgiveness for his part in it after that stupid attack on their own in the Vestibule.

Either way, he was grateful Leadsprite got it. Neither one of them were capable of much more than what they had right now.

That was a given.

Nothing either of them could do could change that short of using all six stones as a whole, or something worse.

Loge was a Runner; constantly moving to keep the Space Stone currently lodged in his wrist out of Thanos hands and slow down his movements through their universe at large while their allies spread the word about what was going on. Collected more to beat him down.

Leadsprite was a mess of literally explosive residual energy eating him from the inside, that they'd had to use what stones they had and magical expertise on hand to even manage mixing in Ego's DNA and getting it to stick, just so they had a small sliver of a chance to survive in the first place. Even then.. it was a tough sliver to hold onto; given how much it depended on their mental and emotional states. He needed time to recover. Get a grip on things. Learn, what he needed; to get a grip on his condition, same as the rest of the Egocentrics.

Honestly, Loge was infinitely grateful both of them had survived even long enough to meet the other...


End file.
